On Sept. 20, the university’s Faculty Senate met for the first time this semester. This was accounting professor Kimberly Dunn’s first meeting as the new faculty senate president after political science professor Kevin Wagner stepped down at the April 26 meeting. 

University President John Kelly joined the meeting briefly to discuss the 60th anniversary since the establishment of Florida Atlantic University. He noted that the celebration will be noticeable during Homecoming week.

COVID-19

The Acting Vice President of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, Larry Faerman, covered for LeAnn Gutierrez, Director of Student Health Services. Faerman talked about the pandemic response case and contact tracking as of Sept. 20. 

If a fully vaccinated student, staff, or faculty were to come in contact with a person with a confirmed case of COVID-19, they can continue to report to work but need to be tested three to five days from the day of exposure and need to wear a mask while indoors for up to 14 days or until the test returns negative. 

If an unvaccinated student, staff, or faculty were to come in contact with a person with confirmed COVID-19, they are to not report to work or class and must contact Student Health Services. They must also be tested after day five or six of quarantine and submit the test result to Student Health Services. The person will only be released from quarantine after they have received a negative test result after day eight or after day 11 after completing the full 10 days of quarantine. 

If a student, staff, or faculty were to test positive for or have symptoms of COVID-19, they are to not report to work or class and must isolate themselves at home. They must also be tested immediately and submit the results to Student Health Services. They can only be released from isolation following a negative test result or completed the entire 10 days of isolation with improved symptoms and fever-free for 24 hours. 

New Courses & Certificates 

The College of Engineering and Computer Science will be adding in new courses and certificates. 

The new courses include Neural Engineering, Aerodynamics, Flight Dynamics, Principles of Turbomachinery, Introduction to Robotics, Mechatronics, Introduction to Ship Structural Design, and  Introduction to Ocean Instrumentation. 

New certificates will be added in Aerospace Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Marine Materials and Offshore Engineering, Naval Architecture, Robotics Engineering, and Underwater Acoustics. 

Effective Fall 2021, these courses and certificates will be added to the catalog in the College of Engineering and Computer Science.

The College of Science also will add in a new combined bachelors to masters degree program in Geosciences. A combined degree program allows students starting in their junior year to take graduate-level courses should they have the established grade point average. Should the student pass the graduate-level courses, they’ll receive credit for the class and cut down on the required number of classes for a master’s degree.  

Natalia Ribeiro is the News Editor for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories email [email protected] or tweet her @nataliar_99.